Sonic Legacy
by sureshot9593
Summary: Here is a fan fic I've started on Deviantart. I hope you enjoy. This will introduce three particular oc's that I made, and, yes, two of them play powerful roles in this story. Also, if you must, you may consider this a Shadamy/Sonally sort of thing, but absolutely no flames, K? I grew up on Sonic and Sally pairing, and I'd rather not go through the drama. enjoy. EDIT:T rate in cas
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

It was over. Of that, Shadow was certain. As the agent of G.U.N surveyed the remains of what was once Robotropolis, Shadow couldn't help but feel an air of finality surrounding him. He remembered how he himself had gotten involved in that war. Having been created by one Professor Gerald Robotnik to be the Ultimate Lifeform, Shadow had been placed into a cryogenic sleep and suffered amnesia from the traumatic loss of a friend. Fifty years later, he was found by Julian Robotnik, whom referred to himself as Dr. Eggman. Eggman was the descendant of Professor Gerald, and had sought to use Shadow to conquer the planet in the name of his "Eggman Empire". Thankful for being awakened, Shadow had helped him. To this day Shadow had felt remorse for his actions for they had almost destroyed the planet, had it not been for one certain annoying, superspeed capable ball of blue fur.

"Thinking about me?"

Shadow whirled around to see Sonic the hedgehog, the very hedgehog he had been thinking about. Sonic stood about Shadow's height, having solid blue fur and red running sneakers. His quills, which had grown slightly longer over the course of time, laid flat against the back of his head, which gave a clear view of the golden grown that sat above his brow.

"It's been a long time, Faker." Shadow jeered. "Or would you rather I called you "Your Highness"?"

It would have been a lie. After many years of fighting a war, and a few weeks of prompting from his friends when the war finally ended, Sonic had finally worked up the nerve to slow down and ask his friend since childhood, Princess Sally Acorn, to marry him. Now, one whole year since Eggman's final fall, Sonic has become what several have decreed as the greatest king Mobius, and already he and Sally were expected a pair of twins to be born.

"Save that last bit." said Sonic. "I have to deal with that enough back home. So what are you doing here?"

Shadow looked back out to the ruins of Robotropolis.

"I and an assortment of G.U.N troops have been assigned to clean up the surrounding area, and, might I add, its about time. What about you?"

"Stress relief," Sonic admitted. "With the worries and responsibilities that have fallen onto me as both king as a soon to be father, I almost miss the old days, and I emphasize the word "almost"."

Shadow chuckled at this. Even when he was slowing down, Sonic had to be moving at lightspeed.

"Do as you wish, but don't get in the way. My men and I have work to do."

Shadow made a move in the direction of the ruins, but was stopped by Sonic laying a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, Shadow. How about once through the city for old time's sake?"

There it was, as Shadow was expecting. Sonic just couldn't pass up a chance to challenge Shadow to a race, and, in some cases, he could understand why. Sonic was, by self-proclaimed title, the fastest thing alive. The only person that could match his awe inspiring speed was that of Shadow's speed. Therefore, when the two were alone, Sonic would pester the ebony hedgehog until he conceded to his whims. So, rather than dragging up any old arguments he could have used, Shadow knelt down into a starting position, with Sonic kneeling alongside him.

"Ready."

"Set."

"GO!"

In two blurs of gold and blue, the hedgehogs were off. As they surged through ruins, they could see several big machines with the G.U.N logo printed on the side as they salvaged and cleared through the refuse. Ever the prankster, Sonic would occasionally pass by some of the workers, and knock them over with a sonic boom. Shadow would then go and help his men to their feet. This continued on until the two reached the other end of the city, where they came to a stop.

"I'll give ya this, Shads." Sonic said, panting slightly. "You haven't lost your touch."

"Same to you." grumbled Shadow. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."

"General Shadow."

The hedgehog looked up to see one of his soldiers walking up to them.

"What is it?"

"You may want to see this for yourself, sir."

The soldier led Shadow to a section where the soldiers had been working, and directed his attention to a small hole in the wall of a half-way fallen building; the sight that met Shadow was astounding. It was a mobian baby, roughly a few weeks old. Though wrapped tightly in a pink blanket, Shadow could make out that its body was covered in a light layer of chestnut colored fuzz, and had the makings of blonde hair forming onto its head. With the hands of a surgeon, Shadow gently reached down and gathered it up. When the child wiggled in his arms, Shadow felt relieved that it was still alive; further inspection also revealed it was a girl.

"Thank you for your assistance, corporal." Shadow said to the soldier. "You're dismissed."

The soldier saluted, then went about his business. Sonic walked up at this time, and his face revealed that he was just as surprised as Shadow had been to see the little creature.

"Didn't expect to see that here." He remarked after a moment of silence. "Would you like for me to take it back to Mobotropolis?"

Shadow mulled that one over. He wasn't completely sure why, but for some reason he could bring himself to comply with that idea. It wouldn't have been too difficult: just give the kid to Sonic, and he'd never have to worry about it again. But, as strange as it may have seemed, Shadow couldn't bring himself to give her away; it just felt right to hold her in his arms.

"No." he finally responded. "You and Sally have enough to worry about with two of your own on the way. Besides, Amy and I are holding our wedding ceremony next month, and she has already been talking about having children."

This raised Sonic's eyebrow. Amy Rose, a kind girl with a fiery temper, had once upon a time chased Sonic constantly to obtain his love, though Sonic saw her more as a sister rather than a girlfriend. To hear that she was now engaged to Shadow was interesting. But, in retrospect, it made sense. In many ways the two evened each other out, and it just seemed to fit.

"Congratulations. It may drive you crazy sometimes, but I can promise you it will be worth it."

Sonic then looked down at the baby.

"So, got a name for her?"

Shadow thought that one over. He remembered his time upon the ARK with his best friend, Maria Robotnik, and recalled how she had once said that, if she ever had a daughter, she would name it Gabriella; the reason why escaped him.

"Gabriella." Shadow stated. "An angel named after an angel."


	2. Chapter 2

Sonic Legacy

Chapter 1

It was the blaring noise of a digital alarm clock that awoke Taylor Storn that warm morning in July. With a groan, the twenty year old human sns aked an arm out of his covers...then slammed his fist against the irritating piece of electronics. With a yawn and a stretch, he removed himself from the cozy confines of his bed, then made his way to his dresser.

As methodical as clockwork, Taylor then proceded to gather up his usual apparel: a red button-up shirt, brown slacks, and a white belt. Finally, there but one thing left to equip: a standard issue Guardian Units of Nations bullet-proof vest/gun holster. This was Taylor's most prized possession; as he held it in his hands, his mind drifted back to the day a year ago when he graduated from the accademy. He had entered as nothing more as a simple hopefull with the dreams of becoming a great hero, and graduated with the all due willingness and knowledge to fight on the front lines.

You could most likely guess his disappointment when he learned he would not be fighting on the frontlines, but would instead be tasked with the tedious job of acting as bodyguard to the Director's family. Now, Taylor had no chagrin against his commanding officer; as a matter of fact, he felt nothing but absolute respect for Director Shadow the Hedgehog. Once a servant to Dr. Julian Robotnik, so Taylor had been told, Shadow had eventually joined G.U.N as a special operations officer along with Rouge the Bat and a robot known as E-123 Omega. From there, through loyalty and a lot of hard work, Shadow had risen through the ranks and achieved an earned rank as Director. All in all, Taylor had recieved a great honor. For as long as he had been around, the only people Shadow actually trusted were Rouge and Omega. Taylor was not only trusted to protect his family, but Director Shadow was even willing to let Taylor sleep in their spare bedroom when Taylor had been thrown out of his apartment last week.

Though deeply honored to be held in such an account by one he greatly admired, Taylor still wished that he was fighting with the other soldiers rather than sitting around in this house all day. In truth, the only reason Taylor really wanted to be out their was so that he could pay his respects to his older brother Joseph, whom had been one of the greatest agents gun had ever employed. Growing up, Taylor often looked up to him like he was a superhero, always believing that he could catch the bad guys and always come home in the end. Unforntunately, one day, he didn't come home, nor would he ever come home again.

Taylor quickly shook his head.

"Get a hold of yourself, soldier!" he scolded himself. "Jo wouldn't want you to dwell on the past, but to focus on the present and the mission at hand."

So, with newfound resolve, Taylor strapped on the vest, then placing his gun in its proper place.

"Now, on to breakfast."

Whistling a tune as he shut his bedroom behind him, Taylor made his way to the stairway leading downstairs. He had just reached the foot of the stairs, when, suddenly, a fork went whizzing through the air directly towards him. With a yelp, Taylor dove to the ground, narrowly avoiding the flying eating utensil. After rising from the floor, Taylor noted that the fork had just ceased glowing in a light teal glow. Only one person he knew of could have done something like this.

"Sorry about that, Taylor!"

At the sound of his name, the gun agent looked up to see Director Shadow's thirteen year old son, Silver. Silver's fur was solid white with the exclusion of strange teal colored markings that ran up and down his arms and legs. Since birth, Silver possessed the ability to move things with his mind, and was slightly capable of manipulating Chaos Control; all were factors of him being Shadow's biological child, everyone always figured. The only down part was the fact that Silver still didn't quite have full control of his powers, and oftentimes comes nigh close to skewering people with sharp objects that are lying around; such was a circumstance that Taylor had grown used to.

"Don't worry about it." Taylor assured him, ruffling the fur on Silver's head. "But, my advice, you may want to aim a little further to the left."

The two boys chuckled, then entered kitchen. As each day before, Taylor could see Amy Rose Kintobor, Shadow's wife, busily working on breakfast. Were one to observe a photo of the pink hedgehog from back in the days of the Mobian Wars, and compared it to how she appeared today, one would note that she was no longer the demure girl that had been seen chasing Sonic everywhere he went.

"Good morning, Mrs. Kintobor." Taylor greeted as he took a seat at the table.

"Morning to you, too." replied the pink Mobian, setting the plates onto the table. She then cupped a hand to her mouth, calling, "Gabby, breakfast is ready!"

She waited, but only recieved silence. She tapped her foot, then stomped it in irritation. "Gabbriella Maria Kintobor! Get down here right now!"

Still silence. Amy merely sighed.

"Silver, could you please get your sister. She seems to be sleeping in again. I swear that girl could sleap her entire life away."

Silver got up from the table, then disappeared upstairs. He returned moments later, and repeated the same phrase as he had done for the past three weeks now.

"She's gone."

Amy placed a hand over her face, and grumbled lightly. "Taylor, I know this wasn't in your job description and all, but could you please go find her. I need to finish up some things here."

Taylor slumped his shoulders, rose from his seat, then made his way out the back door. The house was located just outside of the city of Westopolis, and directily behind it was a dense forest that, if one went far enough, lead to a clearing; this was where Gabbriella had gone just she had done day and day again, and, each and every time, Taylor had to trek through the woods and seek her out. This was what really made his job so tedious. Gabbriella was a gentle person by nature, though she possessed a slight mischievious streak that often got her into trouble and gave Taylor grief.

After what seemed like hours, though was actually a little over ten minutes, he finally came across the clearing. Taylor opened his mouth to call for Gabbriella, when, suddenly, he heard the sound of rustling leaves, followed by someone exclaiming, "Boo!"

Taylor jumped, then whirled around to see that the identity of his attacker was none other than Gabbriella the Gazelle. Gabriella was a young mobian, around the age of fourteen, covered in chestnut colored fur and, unlike the majority Mobian kind, had a full head of blonde hair on top of her head. She was dressed in a brown t-shirt, matching slacks, and a pair of black pennyloafers adorning her feet.

"Gabby, how many times do I have to tell you not to do that?"

The gazelle mobian giggled. "Lighten up, will ya? I was just having fun. What are you doing here anyway?"

Taylor looked at her.

"What am I doing here?! Seriously? You've sneaked off from home to come to this exact spot at least ten times this week, and it's only tuesday! Did it ever occur to you how worried your mother must be?"

Gabby rolled her eyes.

"Oh, like I haven't heard that one before. I haven't been gone but for at least an hour, and it's not like she doesn't know where I am."

She walked past him, closed her eyes, and let the wind blow her hair around. "This is one of the most peaceful places I've ever found, and I like to come here to think. Is that such a problem?"

Taylor could understand that. There were time that he himself would either lock himself in his room, or drive out to the city, and just try to clear his head, think about how things, and wish they were what they could have been.

"No, I guess not." he finally replied. "However, your mom was calling you for breakfast, and I'm getting hungry, so..."

Whoosh!

At the sound of the word 'breakfast', Gabby rushed past him on a crashcourse back to the house. Taylor merely shook his head. Though it wasn't as glamorous as he was hoping, this was his life, and he was thankful to have it.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2

It was a slow day that morning in G.U.N Headquarters, which left Shadow with little to do other than organizing the paperwork that had made a suitable pile on his desk. He absolutely hated it. The only physical stimulation he would recieve would be gliding his hand over flat pieces of paper, and then just put his pen down; it was nescessary,yet pointless. Sure, he wasn't asking for the Space Colony Ark to go on a collision course with Earth, he had already dealt with such a crisis before, but he was looking for something, anything, that could occupy his restless nerves. Just then, his desk phone buzzed, followed by the voice of his secretary, Ms. White, saying, "Mister Director, the new intern is here to see you."

"That's better than doing nothing at all," the ebony hedgehog thought before replying, "Send her in."

No sooner had he said the word, that in came bursting a young woman with red hair and robed in yellow blouse, black skirt, and a teal colored beret that fell from her head, along with a stack of papers she had been carrying, as she fell to the floor. Shadow leapt to his feet, then moved to help the girl to her feet. After retieving her hat and papers, she looked down on the hedgehog Director, and mustered a nervous chuckle.

"Good day, sir. Sorry about the mess."

Shadow merely shook his head and chuckled, then gestured for her to take a seat whilst he took his own.

"Now then," he began. "I am to understand you are here for an internship. May I have your name?"

"Felicia Dewey, sir." the girl replied. "Thank you so very much for seeing me sir."

"But of course." Shadow replied. "Now then, what particular field are you hoping to look into?"

"Well, sir," Felicia began as she sorted through her stack of papers. "Lately I've been studying in advanced robotics and I hope to major in the field of medical technology. From what I've observed, the Guardian Units of Nations have great advances in that field, and I felt that this would be the best place to gain the experience."

"Indeed," replied Shadow. "Following the example of my creator, Professor Gerald Robotnik, GUN has set an entire wing of their research and development division to medical advancements. May I have your resume?"

Felicia began to sift through her paper stack, searching for the proper document that he sought. Suddenly, from out of the girl's purse, there shot out a small object that smashed into the papers, scattering them in every directon.

"Ack!" Felicia screamed, reaching to capture the fast moving object. "Rodney, no! Bad boy! Get back here!"

The object zipped just beyond her reach, slammed into one of the bookcases on Shadow's wall, knocked several volumes from their respective places, and zoomed in Shadow's direction. The black hedgehog did nothing, merely sat still and waited. Then, when the object was just within three inches of his face, Shadow flexed out his arm, seizing the object in his hand. Ever slowly, Shadow retracted the fingers on his hand, and could now get a proper look at the source of all the trouble. It was small, no bigger than Shadow's palm, and was made completely out of metal aside from a glass surface on it's front. It was outfitted with four wings on its top and bottom which gave it an x-shape, and was even equiped with a tiny thruster.

"What is this...thing?"

Felicia was blushing. "That's...Rodney. He's a science project I have been working on for college, but his AI is still malfunctioning. I guess he was trying to help me find..." Just then one of the sheet of paper landed on her head, which she then handed to Shadow. "This."

Shadow took the paper. "Well, aside from the AI issues, I'd say your pretty skilled. There just may be an opening for you?"

"Oh really?" Felicia gasped, her face brightening. "Thank you so much! You won't..."

"Director Shadow!"

The two whirled around to see a GUN soldier rush inside.

"What is it?" Shadow demanded.

"Take my word for it, your gonna need to see it in order to believe it."

This caught Shadow's attention in full. He quickly scribbled something on a piece of paper, then handed it to Felicia. He told her to give it to his secretary, and that she would point her in the right direction from there. Then, with the soldier leading the way, Shadow charged out of his office.

...

It didn't take long for the GUN chopper to reach the site of the disturbance.

"Look down their, Sir!" yelled the pilot over the roar of the chopper's rotor blades. "Like I said, ya gotta see it to believe it!"

Shadow looked down, and there, just outside of the Westoplolis' city limits, was an entire armies worth of Eggpawns. Shadow was completely dumbfounded; back in the old days, the Eggpawns had made up the major bulk of Dr. Eggman's forces. It had been said that, since Eggman's fall, all remnants of this army had been melted down and sold off for scrap; Shadow had made certain of this personally.

"Well, you don't see things like that these days?" he muttered to himself. "Where's our forces?"

"They're positioned along the city's borders, Sir." the pilot replied. "They await your orders to attack."

"Well, then," Shadow began, risising from his seat. "Best not to keep them waiting."

He made his way to the sliding door on the side of the chopper, then opened it. The sudden gushing wind immediately caught the pilot's attention, and he looked back to notice a particular fact about the Director.

"Sir, you can't just jump! You need a parachute!"

"You forget, soldier." Shadow replied cooly. "I'm the Ultimate Lifeform! I don't need a parachute!"

With those parting words, Shadow removed his inhibitor rings around his wrists, then jumped. As Shadow decended, his body became enveloped in a golden light, and he was gradually gaining speed. Then, with a deafening** BOOM**, Shadow crashed down, sending several of the frontline Eggpawns flying. As he slowly rose to his feet, the ebony hedgehog turned to his troops positioned along the border, yelling out, " There they are, boys! Attack!"

With weapons blaring and calls ringing out, the Guardian Units of Nations moved in on their foes in full force. Shadow zoomed forward, flattening several of the robots underneath his feet. Several jumped him, but he was quickly cast them off with a spin. However, his soldiers were having more difficulty, which supprised the hedgehog director. Back in the old days, GUN militia-grade weaponry would have reduced seceral of these drones to scrap in a matter of seconds; these particular models weren't even being fazed by their bullets.

"General Cortes!"

There came a rusling of metal, followed by an eggpawn being tossed aside by a burly looking human with blonde hair and a long scar running along his right eye.

"Present, sir." replied the general.

"Status report."

"In a word: bad. These mechanical morons have us outnumbered a thousand to one, and our weapons, aside from grenades and missle launchers, are having little to no affect. I would suggest tank and artillery support, but we're too close to the city limits. We might cause more harm than good if we were to mobilize such forces."

"What about choppers?"

"I could send the order, but will there be enough time for them to gas up, lift off, and get here?"

Shadow looked behind his general, and began to weigh his options. Without options, this battle would be over soon; even he wasn't equiped to fight off all of the machines without at least one Chaos Emerald. But he wasn't about to let the city get overrun, either.

"Give the order for the choppers." the director finally replied. "We'll try to hold them off as long as we can."

Shadow charged past General Cortes, and went back into the fray, barking orders. "Grenadiers, take up the front and give them armagedon! Missle launchers, take up a safe distance, then unload in force. We have to do everything we can till the choppers arrive! Attack!"

His troops cried out again, then took their positions. Several pineapples were thrown througth the air, and all igniting with a brilliant BOOMS as they made contact. Behind them, more soldiers formed a comumn, their launchers positioned carefully along their shoulders. Each weapon started out with a FWOOSH, then followed up with thunderous KABOOMS as more robots were eliminated. As for Shadow, he charged through the line, careful to avoid any friendly fire, and began to wreak a little havoc of his own. He hammered his fists into one eggpawn, then sent it careening into several more like they were bowling pins. He followed up with launching a salvo of Chaos Spears, which reduced more into smoldering piles of scrap. A pawn tried to sneak up on him from, but he elbowed it and then tossed it into another that tried to jump him.

Suddenly, a stray grenade fell between Shadow's leg. The black hedgehog caught sight of it, but by then it was too late. It exploded, knocking Shadow to the ground. The eggpawns took advantage of this, and began to pile onto him. Shadow began to wiggle and squirm, but found he was unable to sort his way out of the entanglement of metallic bodies.

"Rust covered, tin-plated nuisances!" he cursed with a growl. "Get off of me!"

His options diminished, Shadow fell back on his contingency plan; he removed the inhibitor rings around his wrists, focused all of his energy into his core, then proclaimed, "Chaos Blast!" He expelled the energy in a single burst, scattering his foes in all directions and giving him enough room to rise. That had been a close one. Shadow had made it a habit not to use Chaos Blast unless it was absolutely necessary due to the fact that it drained his strength immensely. When he finally gathered himself, he looked up to see that several dozens of the machines were still on the approach, and, judging from the lessened amount of explosions that could be heard, his men were running out of ammunition.

"Director!" Shadow turned to see Cortes running up to him. "Bad news, sir. The choppers aren't coming. I don't know how, but someone had put sugar in the gas tanks. We're on our own."

This was indeed bad news for Shadow. The only strategic action to take would be to call a retreat, but that would only result in the eggpawns swarming the city and attacking the civilians. As he looked back to the oncoming horde, Shadow couldn't help but mutter, "I almost wish Sonic were here."

Suddenly, several eggpawns were sent flying as a blue blur burst through their ranks. The blur pulled a sharp U-turn, then proceded to do the same to another line of robots.

"Sir." gasped a somewhat surprised Cortes. "Is that...King Sonic?"

The blue blur finally came to a halt, and Shadow was able to get a better look at him; he was undeniably a hedgehog, and was covered in blue fur and and wore red sneakers just like Sonic. However, there was one particular fact that made Shadow certain that it wasn't him; he looked to be about fourteen, far too young to be the mobian monarch. Shadow's attention was diverted away from the newcomer when he heard a new commotion. His eyes jumped when he was a blue vortex swirling through the eggpawns, blowing them in all directions in its wake. When the storm cleared, Shadow smirked.

"That, my dear general, is King Sonic."

Indeed it was. Where a twirling column of wind once stood, there was now a blue hedgehog adorned with bright red sneakers, a red cape that flowed behind him, and a golden crown that sat cradled to his brow.

"Hey, Shadow." Sonic greeted with a cocky grin. "You should have called. Had I have know you were having a party, I would have brought the whole family."

Shadow chuckled. "It seems all that cushy living hasn't affected your ability to fight. You and little boy blue over there have accomplished in one instant what it would have taken my attack choppers to do."

"Hey!" the younger hedgehog snapped, clearly insulted at the remark reguarding him.

"Cool it, Manic." Sonic chided the youth. "That's just Shadow bein' Shadow."

The ebony hedgehog took a closer look at the boy.

"So this is your son...Manic was it? Huh, the resemblance is uncanny."

Manic puffed out his chest, a prideful grin plastered over his face. "Yep, thats me. I'm Manic the hedgehog, son of the famed king Sonic the hedghog, and one of the fastest creatures in the world."

"Yeah," Sonic chimed in. "Of course, your still slower than me."

"You want to test that little theory, old man." Manic shot back. "I'll be I could run circles around you."

This little conversation between father and son went on a little longer, but Shadow had opted to tune it out; it was mostly full of "oh yeah?" 's and "Yeah!" 's. Shadow merely shook his head, and chuckled lightly.

"That's all the world needs: two Sonics. You don't see Silver and me getting into conversations like this."

"Director!"

Shadow swiveled around to see Cortes running up to him.

"What is it, general."

"Sir, intel reveals that there Eggpawns in the vicinity. They are currently on the move."

"From what point on the city are they convering?"

Cortes face shifted into a confused expression.

"That's just it, sir. Satelite imaging reveals that they are moving away from the city. South by southwest to be exact."

Shadow's jaw dropped. The only destination in that particular direction was HIS house. Now these destructive, and nearly indestructible, machines were on a course towards his family. Anger began to etch it's way across his face, and Shadow surged off in the direction of his home. He had already lost one as close to him as a sister. He would NOT loose his wife, two children, and fellow soldier. He would NOT!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3

All was quiet, just as Amy preferred it. She and Gabriella were busy washing and drying the breakfast dishes whilst Silver was reading a book in the living room. These were the moments Amy had often dreamed of. She had never had any ambition to enroll in a career; being a housewife was just fine. However, there was one big difference between her past dream and the present reality. When she was younger, she had idolized Sonic the Hedgehog and had often envisioned that he would eventually give in to her advances and marry her. Obviously, that hadn't happened. But, in all truth, Amy wouldn't have had it any other way. Sonic was one of her best friends, and she was happy that he had found happiness in Sally. She also didn't regret her marriage to Shadow. Sure he was stubborn, yea more so than a certain knucklehead she knew ("Julie Sue must have the patience of a saint."), but she was well equipped at handling him. Plus, he had provided her with wonderful children. Gabby reminded her of herself when she was younger, and she admired the spirit Silver had. All in all, in was a happy life she led, and the tranquil morning only added to that joy.

However, the peace of the moment was shattered by the sound of gunshots.

"Just like clockwork." Amy mumbled, covering her ears. This sudden disturbance was caused by Taylor. As he had done every morning after breakfast, he took up a set of rubber rounds, positioned some soda cans in an elm tree like a makeshift firing range, and then unloaded each clip. This was the only way Taylor could think of to keep his aim and firing skills sharp out here since it wasn't often he visited the firing ranges at GUN. Therefore, he resorted to this. He was lining up for another shot when he heard the backdoor open. He turned to see Amy walking out the front door.

"Hello, Mrs. Kintobor." Taylor greeted with a wave. "Can I help you with something?"

"Just one thing," Amy replied meekly. "Don't take this the wrong way but would you mind holding off on your target practice today. You really should take some time to relax and rest."

"I have to keep my skills sharp somehow, ma'am." said Taylor with a shrug. "It's my duty as an agent of GUN and your family's bodyguard to be prepared."

"I'm not in disagreement with that." Amy added. "But, like Sonic always says, all work and no play makes for a dull life."

Taylor looked at the can he hadn't shot down, then back to the lady of the house.  
"Perhaps your right." he said finally. "I've been training pretty hard lately, and…"

"Bang!"

Taylor screeched with surprised, incidentally firing at the can and knocking it from its spot in the tree. With blazing eyes, Taylor turned to seeing a wildly giggling Gabbriella.

"Gabby!" Taylor fumed. "I've told you time and time again never to do that!"

"And yet I still do it." Gabby remarked snidely. "Are you starting to see a pattern here?"

Taylor wasn't the only one angry. "Gabbriella Maria Kintobor!" Amy exploded. "Have you lost all of the good sense in your brain?! He had a loaded gun in his hand, and could have easily hurt someone!"

"Take a chillpill, mom." Gabby replied casually. "He always uses rubber rounds when he practices. There's no need to…"

"HOUSE, NOW!"

"Yes momma."

Gabby slowly slinked past her mother, and made her way inside. When she was gone, Amy placed a hand over her face. "I swear, what am I going to do with that girl?"

"I'd say ground her." said Taylor as he rubbed the back of his head. "But you know how easy it is to keep her in one place."

Suddenly, Taylor felt his cellphone buzz. He retrieved it, and then placed it to his ear.

"Hello? Oh, hello Director Shadow. How has your morning… Huh? Director, please slow down. I can hardly…" Taylor pulled the phone away from his ear, and Amy could now hear husband screaming over the line, "GET OUT OF THERE! GET OUT OF THE HOUSE NOW!"

Suddenly, the woods came alive as a swarm of eggpawns emerged with weapons raised. One aimed at Amy and fired, but Taylor quickly pushed her out of the way. Another armed a missile launcher, and, to the two's mounting distress, appeared to be aiming for the house. Taylor leapt to his feet in an attempt to stop it, but was too late. The projectile when zooming past, and the cottage was engulfed in sound, smoke, and flames.

"Nooooo!"

"GABBRIELLA! SILVER!"

Both Taylor and Amy looked on in absolute terror at the tower of smoke that erupted from the remnants of the house. However, as the smoke began to clear, Taylor began to see a strange green light. Seconds later, he could see Silver and Gabbriella, both unharmed and protected by an aura of psychic energy. The two ran out of the wreckage and made their way into their hysterical mother's arms. Taylor breathed a sigh of relief, and then shot a glare in the direction of the robots.

"Alright you wind-up toy knock offs, EAT LEAD!"

Taking aim, Taylor proceeded to unload his gun on all of the nearest targets. However, he began to notice an unexpected snag. "There are only rubber rounds in this thing. I forgot."

More enemy fire flew overhead. "Mrs. Kintobor, Gabby, Silver make a run for it! I'll hold them off for as long as I…"

There was a loud whooshing sound, followed by an eggpawn being smash by an enormous pink and yellow hammer. Taylor turned to see a look of indescribable rage burned onto Amy's face.

"It's bad enough that these mechanical monsters destroyed my house, but they had the nerve and gall to try and kill my children along with it. NOW…I'M…ANGRY!"

She was off like a flash, gathering up her hammer and laying waste to any eggpawn unfortunate enough to get close to her. Taylor, Silver, and Gabby merely stood there watching in stunned silence. At last, Taylor said, "You two take cover. I'll see if I can lend a hand."

Not needing to be told twice, Silver took his sister's hand and guided her to the edge of the woods. Taylor then charged head on with an eggpawn and began to grapple with it for its weapon. When he finally managed to wrench it from the machine, he fired a couple of rounds into its body until he was certain it was deactivated.

"Not the pistol I'm used to." he grumbled to himself as he lifted up the bulky blaster. "But I'm not one to complain about a free weapon."

As for Amy, she had become a complete mad woman. She was spinning wildly, scrapping several robots with every rotation. "Nobody messes with my children!" she snapped as she smashed another robot. "You hear me? NOBODY!"

Both Silver and Amy watched the spectacle with awe and amazement. "Wow!" Silver mumbled. "Dad always said that mom was dangerous in a fight, but I always thought he was trying to spice up his old war stories."

"She's incredible!" Gabby added with admiration.

Suddenly, an eggpawn seized Amy by the waste, and, just before she could bash it away, it unleashed an electrical current through her body. Amy cried out in agonized pain before the robot released her, and she fell to the ground.

"Mom!" Gabby cried, dashing to her mother's side. "Mom? Momma, wake up!" Tears flooding her eyes, the young fawn began to shake her motionless parent in an attempt to awaken her. She was pulled away by the sound of gears clicking, and she could see the eggpawn coming closer. Its soulless eyes pierced down into hers, and in that moment Gabbriella the gazelle realized what it truly meant to be hopeless. She couldn't see Taylor as he tried to bat away the countless enemies, nor did she see Silver as he appeared in front of her in an attempt to protect both her and their mother. All she felt was her fear and the impending end.

Silver also had a feeling of hopelessness filling his being. He had tried to use his telekinesis to fight off the eggpawn, but he found he couldn't concentrate hard enough to make it work. Now, he stood arms stretched between his mother and sister, and the eggpawn that wished them harm. He squeezed his eyes shut, and then waited for the inevitable clash and, quite possibly, his last few moments on Mobius.

But no blows ever came. Instead, there was a loud crunching noise, followed by the sound of metal being torn apart. Silver opened one eye, and saw no other than his dad whom had just axe-kicked the eggpawn then ripped it into two pieces. The ebony hedgehog's gaze fell onto his fallen bride, and the already crazed look on his face became a myriad mixture of rage and total insanity.

He vanished in a bright flash of gold light, then materialized over another robot and smashed it to pieces. He then moved on to the next, then the next, then the next, until there was only one eggpawn left. A warning signal blared on the machine's HUD display, and it turned to flee. But Shadow wouldn't have it. He drew back his right hand, channeled the Chaos energy in his body, and proclaimed, "Chaos Spear!" Then, he lobbed it at the robot, which exploded on contact. Then there was silence.

Shadow, his rage satisfied, made his way to his children's side. He could see Gabby cradling her mother's head in her lap, and a great fear began to well up in Shadow's heart. He gently took Amy from his daughter, and placed an ear to her chest. A sigh of relief escaped his lips when he heard a heartbeat, thus telling him that she was alive. Seconds later, Sonic and his son Manic appeared on the scene. A quick sweep of the area was enough to tell Sonic what had happened. For once, his marvelous speed wasn't enough to prevent a catastrophe.

He walked over to Shadow, and then placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry." he said solemnly. Shadow looked up at him and nodded. "I'm just thankful we got here before we lost someone irreplaceable. Storn!"

"Sir."

"Call General Cortes, and have him bring a medic down here. I also want the science division down here. I want to know just whom I need to destroy for this assault against my family."

Taylor saluted Shadow, and began to dial the number on his phone. However, inside his mind, Taylor was overcome with grief. He had been given one simple task to guard and protect the Director's family, and he had failed.


End file.
